Yep. Just put in the K-1 visa number. You'll have to send them a photocopy of the K-1 and I-94 anyways.

started getting my parental benefits..

man they tax you on it living in the US!



Question for Earmuffs or anyone if you can respond..

When did you apply for the benefits, and was it easy?

They tax you 25%

When i did it back in 2005, it was easy! I was a cr-1 so it was very straight forward, because there was never a question if i was work eligible (i am,lol) It is a fairly simple process, bu tlike any other govt office, not always the fastest!

Thank you for your reply.

My due date is around May 4, 2008. I am hoping all th paper work will be done, and I will have My K1 in hand before I am too far long to fly to my fiance.

If I do get the visa in time, should I just apply here for my maternity benefits, or wait until I go to myfiance then contact them letting them know I have moved?? I read thatyou can start the benefits 17 weeks before the babies due date. So I am hoping I can just start the mat. leave here.

I have exhausted my EI

I have filled out 2 reports already...it says online they are sending me the third but they still haven't made a decision on my claim.
How long does it usually take?

it takes about 2 weeks for them to decide once they get a copy of the work authorization.. or thats what they told me at least.. then they send you all of the checks at once for the weeks they were being withheld

haha...so funny that I posted this today cause I just got a call and I'm approved!! LOL
YAY!

sweet!!! free $$$, well sorta!!

I guess I better give them a call to see what's happening with my claim.

Well, half of what is supposed to be there is in my bank account, the info for which I'd hadn't given them yet, so I don't know how they managed that.

The other half is still missing despite my K-1 already being expired, and best of all, I still haven't been told that I'm approved.

I'm assuming the money means I was, but it'd be nice if they'd let me know, y'know?

EI just called and they are approving my claim - finally. She also told me that she was going to put a "disqualified note" on my file to take effect on September 29 as my I-94 expires on the 27th of September. Hopefully, I'll have my EAD by the end of October . I know, high hopes

Well isn't that a relief?

I guess I don't have to remind you to send them your EAD or Green card when it comes in to start up the claim again.

Well..
I have filled out 2 reports so far, the last one I got was mid August.

It says on the website they are waiting for the one they sent me for the weeks of the 17th to the 29th of August...I have not gotten this report.

I'll be calling in the morning....I'm not sure which number to call but..lol.

This sucks.

I always get my cards the Monday following the day they are supposed to be submitted. It's to bad they wouldn't let us file online. It would make life so much easier.

ok 25 pages of posts to read through? For real? Is there one post that gives you a task list for how to apply for EI?

I am in Canada now and will be moving to Texas on November 15th. I will be getting the temp EAD stamp at the POE. I just need to know what I do and when I do it in order to get the ball rolling. I will be quitting work 2 weeks before I leave Canada.

Thanks for the help if it's offered. If you just want to tell me go read the 25 pages of posts then no need to respond. hehe

i would apply from the US.
there's less hassle and they don't have to transfer as much crap that way.

Not to be negative - but what makes you positive the EAD stamp is for sure at POE? Very few folks get it, anymore but that is neither here nor there with regard to Unemployment.

The Unemployment office honestly thinks you're entitled to work whether you get the stamp or not - don't argue with them over it, t'ain't worth it (yes, I'm sure someone on VJwill dispute, but look back at mine and other's posts last Nov-Dec).

Like you, I got my ROE from my employer a couple weeks before I left for the US. Applied online once I was here, mailed the ROE as they asked during the online application process and away I went. My claim went for the 3 mons from the time I entered (minus the magical waiting period...)...paused (because I didn't yet have the other Employent Authorization card )and then restarted once I got the EAD and sent them a copy. Total down time wasn't more then a couple weeks in the interim.

The process didn't seem overly painful at all. I didn't get the cards regularly at all (who knows why) but I simply called them and they took down my details for that particular period. They never complained about me phoning, so I continued to do it that way.

I would ensure your employer puts the reason down as something like 'Moving to US to marry' not simply 'Quit'....I've seen a few complaints on here because UI gives people a hard time or denies a claim because UI is daft enough to think we didn't really HAVE to move.

All in all, it was straight forward for me, but my scenario was pretty simple. It was really nice to get the cash at a time when we needed it. I felt somewhat entitled after paying into it for 20 yrs and never having used it in Canada....it was helpful and considering I'll never be able to use it again, it's worked out just fine. I phoned them the day I started at my new job last March and cancelled it, easy peasey.

Cheers!

Thank you very much that's exactly the response I was looking for. I did just get off the phone with the belleville office and she told me something that shocked me. She said I was only able to use the K1 Visa up till the day I was married at which point I wouldn't be eligible for EI again until I got the AOS complete. Is this accurate?

Interesting since I got married(Nov 24) 2 weeks after I entered (Nov 12) so I applied probably after nov 24 cuz I was just way to busy planning. Doesn't sound correct to me either. But I wouldn't get bent about it just yet

No matter what they say, they will likely send you a letter after you apply asking for a photocopy of your K1 entry stamp and passport and stuff so it will all get sorted out. UI doesn't care if you get married or not technically so not sure why they would say that - being married doesn't cut off UI.

Honestly i find everyone on both sides of the government has their heads up their proverbial BEHINDS on both sides on this lovely K1 situation No joking

well still nothing.
I called service canada and got through to a very nice lady named Rita...she was going to do a blind report over the phone, 2 actually cause I'm due another report and nothing has come to me but she found out she couldn't...
so, she gave me the interstate number and their mailbox is full?? What's up with that???

Sigh.

Finally the inbox wasn't full so I left a message.

Let's see what happens.

I filed on July 6....they approved my claim on September 11....they mailed me a check here for the first 5 weeks they owed me which I received last Tuesday.....I got another check along with cards on Monday.

It's tough. On top of all that, come Monday, my claim will be closed until I receive my EAD.

This is enough to drive a sane person crazier.....lol

When I was at first denied, then won my case, i gave my first few reports over the phone to the interstate office. They were great!!

I'm hoping they will allow me to do that for the previous 2 reports that have not been mailed to me!

Nick and I will be FINALLY mailing in our AOS tonight when he gets home from work...I know I won't get my EAD before my October 19th cut off but hopefully it won't be too long after that!!!

Well, that was...awkward.

Got a call this morning from Belleville. Very serious and stern lady on the phone.
I told her I haven't received 2 reports and she verified my address. She then asked if my mail was "secure" and I said yes, it's a locked box.

She said she'd write down that "obviously we have a problem with mail getting to you" kind of rudely, like it's my fault!

She then was like "Well, I guess I'll take the information over the phone...." sigh.

It's your job, do it!!
anyway

Asked me the 5 questions then asked where I have been looking for work!!

DOH!

I haven't been looking! Who the heck is going to hire me for a month! I don't have a SSN! This is all so stupid. So I bullshitted my way out of it...."Ummm Lowe's and uhhhhh some other retailers and uhhhhh".

Snotty Lady: "Have you written down a list of the employers and how you contacted them"?
Me: "No, is that something I should be doing?"
Snotty Lady: "Yes, that's something you agreed to in the terms and conditions, do it from now on".
Me: "Okay".

Whatever. They should just give us the money for a certain period without asking if we went to school or worked or whatever. They know we are here on a K1 visa which doesn't allow us to work but does...we payed into EI anyhow just dish it out until we get jobs.
LOL

I totally lied to them and they are still giving me money. Stupid.

I hope that I start getting reports again so I don't have to do this crap over the phone ever again.

Laura did you make sure that they put the street number first and then any apartment number after? I seem to recall it was EI that was putting Apt # first, then street number (as they do in Canada) but the US postmen can't follow that logic, so it has to be written manually the other way. If they fill in the boxes the standard way it will print out all funny.. they have to adjust it so that the street # comes first.. Just a thought I had when reading your post.

Yeah, the way they have it and have mailed to me is the Apt 58 comes after the address.

There is no reason why it wouldn't get to me.

bummer

The rules are that u have to be looking for work, no different than if your in Canada! and if they phone and you don't have a list available, they can put an immediate stop to your $$$, its called screening ur calls,lol and of course be out looking for work, and have that list available! lol

Laura,

A few things to note.

Sometimes they send out 1 paper (with 2 weeks on it). Sometimes they send out 2 papers (with 4 weeks total on them).

On mine, they seemed to alternate back and forth. Sometimes I would get an EI card to fill out in the mail a few weeks after the last one that had came. Sometimes it would be a month or so before I'd receive them. From the sounds of things, you got the 2 week card to start and now you're waiting for the 4 week card. Be prepared to wait is all I can say.

Living in Texas, it takes a while to mail them down here and then mail them back (even though I always mailed them out the day after receiving them). But the online date that says you have 3 weeks to mail xx date was never accurate. Basically EI was always 1 month behind what the real date was. So if it was Sept 27th, I'd be getting a payment for August 9th and 16th.

I live in an apartment. They always mailed them out as
Texanadian
60-2500 Main St.
.
.
.
It never showed up as 2500 Main St, Apt 60.

I would however write "Canada" on the bottom of their reply envelope every time. As I'm not sure if the US postal system knows where Belleville, ON is.

Just wanted to gives a heads up if you get the wrong return envelope to mail back the ei card with. I received one for Revenue Accounting Canada Immigration in Ottawa. Scared the pants off of me, LOL!
So after searching the net trying to figure out why I received that envelope, I finally broke down and called the EI office in Belleville (1-877-486-1650). Ends up the envelope was sent to me in error. If anyone else runs into this or loses their envelope...all EI cards should be mailed to:
Human Resources Development Canada
Unemployment Insurance Program
PO Box 4500
Belleville, ON K8N 5C1
CANADA

Thanks hon!! super helpful!!!

Good news is I got my next statement in the mail...yay!

Question:

I was offered a job today that would start on the 20th. It's pendent on clearing a background check (HAW HAW HAW HAW HAW HEE HEE HEE HAW HAW HOO HOO HAW HAW HAW HAW HAAAAA) but obvious that is no cause for concern. They should have the results back before I start and thus will be all bona fide n' employed on the 20th.

When do I tell EI that I got a job? I'm thinking I'll call them on the Friday before I start and let them know then, since it will be the following Monday the job will take effect and the background check should be done by then.

I wouldn't tell EI UNTIL you actually start working. They could phone u on the 19th and say, sorry, we can no longer hire you!!

So call them on the 21st? I won't start training until the afternoon of the 20th, so I couldn't call until the next morning.

or call them on the 20th, once ur sure the job pans out!! or one can just wait til you get the cards! But probably best to call them and they will inform you on what to do.

I would just mark it down on the cards. I believe that way, your claim continues on until you run out of weeks. Helps in the event that you get layed off, fired, whatever. So you'd still fill out the cards, but you just wouldn't get anything.

If you're training, you might qualify under the amount in your first week that you're allowed to earn. I think I could earn something like $137/week before EI would start deducting from my cheque.

I asked the worker handling my case how long I would have the safety net of EI in case I was laid off, etc. She said that provided I have weeks left out of the original 36 (or whatever) weeks I had built up, I have a full year from when I first filed the claim. So say I get laid off in January, I could start up my claim again to cover me from January to May, which is when I applied this year.

I asked if I can collect EI if I make less than $X, and she said yes, if I make less than $75/wk, I can still collect EI. I'll be making a lot more than that, hopefully!

I wonder if 'training' is classified as earning or as training, which was distinct on the cards I believe?

I used a handy online calculator to get an idea of how much my takehome pay would be, and due to the low taxes in TX, I'll be taking home basically the same net as I did in Canada when I made a lot more per hour!

For someone looking for information on EI, I found this useful. I have no idea which employer put this together, but the information is very useful.

http://www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/onpub/PD...ploy/emplns.pdf

ok so this is a very long thread. can someone point me to the exact place where it tells me when and how to apply for EI. I am moving to NY in December... do i apply when i quit my job here? or from the US? I\m not getting married till Feb. do i apply before the wedding or after? any help is greatly appreciated.
thanks so much

Yep - it's long

Apply as early as possible after leaving your job, just get's the claim in that much quicker. You'll need your ROE (Record of Employment) of course from them to start.

You're applying because you're leaving your job - nothing to do with when the wedding is! So, again, as soon as you have your ROE - sometimes I believe you can start the online application before getting it, but it does have pertinent info you'll need.

A tip that many have mentioned here - ensure that the reason your employer puts on for leaving isn't just simply 'Quit', I asked them to put something like'Leaving employment due to marriage and moving to the USA'....it's not like you are quitting for the sake of quitting.

Cheers

Definitely do not wait for your ROE.

Apply online immediately after you enter the US and have your visa and I-94 from the border.

Then, you have breathing room while you wait for your ROE and get together your other documentation EI wants. That way, you will received money for the entire duration of the K-1 visa's employment authorization.

Try to quit as close to your moving date as possible, or EI will give you flack for why you waited so long between quitting and moving.

And ditto to the importance that your employer puts 'Relocation to be with spouse' on your 'reason for leaving'.

Here's the skinny on my EI:

My last day of work was September 5, 2008. Chris' employer paid for our plane tickets to Hawaii, since he was on the mainland until the 19th - we decided to leave for the US on the 22nd. We drove to Seattle on the 22nd, dropped the car off for shipping on the 23rd and flew to Hilo on the 24th.

Prior to my last day of work - I requested my employer put Relocation with Spouse as reason for leaving. Lady in HR said that would be fine. On the 10th my ROE came the house which says simply QUIT. I sent an email to the HR person asking that it be amended. She said that I did quit and that's what is supposed to go there. Its my business what I explain to EI. So I saved this email - since I would send a copy of that with my supplemental EI information.

I applied for EI online on September 25, 2008. I made copies of my ROE, last pay stub, Visa and HR email and put that in the mail to Belleville.

Never heard anything. I called on October 24, 2008 to check the status of my claim. Gentleman on the phone said they were waiting a response to a letter they sent out requesting a copy of my work authorization. He was very nice and took a detailed message that I sent this information previously, I'm having trouble with receiving mail here and haven't receiving anything in the mail. He put a call back request on my file and said it would be returned by Monday afternoon.

No call back by Monday. I left a message this afternoon again. Donna called this time and she was stern yet polite. She took my information down and reiterated that EI was waiting for my supplemental information. She provided me with two fax numbers and said it would be best to fax rather than mail (she said she doesn't trust the mail). Hubby is faxing all of that info again from work tonight.

Hopefully I'll hear something soon.

My ROE said nothing. best of luck

Been so long since I received any $$ from EI, that I thought I'd drop by and get some clarification from those of you who have been here before.

I've got my fingers crossed that I'll get my EAD by the end of November. Does my EI claim kick in from the date on the EAD and run for the balance of the 36 weeks I was approved for? (So, I've gone through 12 weeks and would get the balance of 24 weeks from my EAD issuance date.) That is of course, until I start working.

Yes. Just fax them your EAD or Green card. Whatever comes first.

Hi everyone...... Needed some advice. Levi filed for EI the week he moved here which was mid September. They keep sending him cards to fill out which he does and mails back immediately. They also sent him a code so he can get online and check his status but it doesn't work so we assume he's not in the system there yet. Any idea how long it takes to start receiving EI and do they send notice if you've been denied? Thanks, Heather

He should call the EI office and request the status of his claim. I did this a couple of weeks ago, and they were able to confirm any information that was missing before they could move forward. Keep sending back the cards until someone contacts him. I had to leave a call back request and it was returned 2 days later. Things got moving quickly after that.

As for the access code, he needs to call a number and change that to a permanent code. You cannot access the online system with a temporary number. Once that is done, he can access it online. Make sure when putting the where his claim is valid for it is Ontario. For whatever reason, claims from outside of Canada need to use Ontario rather than the option for outside of Canada. Dunno. I finally figured it out last week after a call to the EI tech support line.


http://www1.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/con...shtml#Telephone

Hi All,

Does the EI get deposited directly into my Canadian bank account, or do they mail you cheques in CAD $ to your US address, or do they deposit directly into my US account? Thank you!